Re: In other news

On 18.07.2023 13.24, Merlyne wrote:
> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
> 
>> On 12.07.2023 13.22, Merlyne wrote:
>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>
>>>> On 08.07.2023 17.01, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 05.07.2023 14.14, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 02.07.2023 16.29, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>> BeH <[email protected]> wrote in
>>>>>>>>> news:[email protected]: 
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 28.06.2023 13.31, Merlyne wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> I got a new phone and a better plan.
>>>>>>>>>>> Why are cell plans so much more expensive in my country vs
>>>>>>>>>>> the US? 
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> CAPITALISM! It's always capitalism. We've been over this.
>>>>>>>>> Sure. Are you sure that it's not related to population base?
>>>>>>>> If you pay the same country-wide and you the same coverage in
>>>>>>>> sparsely populated areas (I know you have some of those), then
>>>>>>>> maybe. But most likely capitalism.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ugh!
>>>>>>>>>>> I got a new S21 and 20GB of data for $47/month taxes in.
>>>>>>>>>> I pay a base fee of ~$4/month (deducted from consumption) with
>>>>>>>>>> slightly higher per-minute charge and no free data. But then I
>>>>>>>>>> only use data in emergency (which haven't happened yet) and
>>>>>>>>>> make maybe two calls and two texts/month.
>>>>>>>>> I used to have a prepaid cell for like $10 a month back in 2003
>>>>>>>>> when it was my emergency phone.
>>>>>>>>> Once I started using it all the time, it was more
>>>>>>>>> cost-efficient to have a plan with unlimited talk and text. I
>>>>>>>>> would say that I am most frequently contacted by text than by
>>>>>>>>> other modes i.e. voice call or email. 
>>>>>>>>>> On the other hand I still pay for a landline (IP) even though
>>>>>>>>>> it hasn't made a sound (or call) in several years.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I also have a landline. My Dad calls it and a few places where
>>>>>>>>> I keep forgetting to change my contact info to my cell. I think
>>>>>>>>> the landline isn't VOIP it's whatever came before that but
>>>>>>>>> after rotary dial phones. 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Analog... (rotary dials relied on counting the impulses - one
>>>>>>>> for each digit passed on return; pushbutton 'dialing' relied on
>>>>>>>> the frequency of the tone correspondig to each digit/button)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> They will probably phase it out eventually.
>>>>>>>> Like they did with teevee signals, thus making everyone get new
>>>>>>>> teevees... 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I thought I got a new tv because the old one stopped working.
>>>>>> That may be, but lots of people got new tvs because their old one
>>>>>> couldn't receive/decode the digital signal.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The cable company gave out digital conversion boxes to people.
>>>> Can you still get one of those. To use on an old teevee that you buy
>>>> at an antique shop?
>>>>
>>> I doubt anything would work on a tv that old.
>> In theory it would. It would require a digital to analog conversion
>> and probably a granularity reduction from HD to PAL or [whatever the
>> American format is called]. An old cable converter might just work if
>> one could bypass the subscription bit.
> 
> It could work from an antenna. Some channels are in the air. In HD even.
That's what I meant, using the antenna as input for the box. A really
old TV will probably make a mess of an unaltered HD signal.

>>>> People without a cable subscription didn't get any, I'll bet.
>>>>
>>> Probably not. No one is that nice.
>> Especially not cable companies.
>>
> 

-- 
BeH

" We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to
formulate insight is a play on words." - Niels Bohr